The Grants Pirates will face off against the St. Pius X Sartans at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Grants will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
On Friday, Grants beat Valencia 5-2.
Belen typically has all the answers at home, but on Thursday St. Pius X proved too difficult a challenge. They put the hurt on the Eagles with a sharp 9-2 win. The Sartans have beaten the Eagles the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Eagles has come to flipping the script.
Jacob Madrid was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Madrid was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with one home run, two RBI, and one double. St. Pius X is undefeated when Madrid posts three or more hits, but 9-11 otherwise.
In other pitching news, Hunter Jiron looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because St. Pius X is 3-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 9-10 otherwise.
Back at the plate, Joaquin Aragon was incredible, firing off two home runs and five RBI while going 3-for-4. Those two home runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kaiden Swanson, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and one RBI.
St. Pius X lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.
Grants pushed their record up to 13-5 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for St. Pius X, they now have a winning record of 12-11.
Grants couldn't quite finish off St. Pius X in their previous meeting two weeks ago and fell 3-1. Will the Pirates have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
